Dealing with different time zones is one of the biggest challenges of outsourced projects. Discover how to do it properly!

1. How to deal with a time zone
difference in outsourced
projects
Karina Człapińska
Project Manager

2. When considering time zones and ways of dealing with them, it is worth to
distinguish two types of projects:
● When the client’s team is from a different zone, but the same for all members.
● When the client’s team works in different time zones and we are in yet another
time zone.

3. When the client’s team works in
different time zone
In this case, working with them is the biggest challenge. Especially when it comes
to arrange a meeting at the end of the working day, sometimes finding even as
little as one hour can be a challenge. Your team is located in the country “A”, the
team of the client is in the country “B” and than the client itself is in “C”. So the
date of meetings will have to be adjusted to three different zones.

4. Problems related to work between
different time zones
● Setting appointments or arranging a demo:
It’s usually hard to organize a call during normal business hours
and it becomes even more difficult when the client’s team is in a
different time zone. If that’s the case, the arranged hour must
suit everyone. Meetings have to be planned well in advance and
some applications can be useful to choose the right time.
As the time zones are different the problems usually are about
communication.

5. ● When the team needs some kind of requirement clarification:
Many emails may go back and forth but work is stuck until the
requirements are well-clarified and understandable for everyone. When
working in different time zones, it may hard to keep in constant contact.
When specific information is required from the client, it is a so-called
“blocker”.
It’s possible to assume what the
client wants, and then consult.
Rework might happen if the
team misunderstood the
expectations of the clients
Some downtime might be
unavoidable, however, if
waiting is the option taken.
You can also wait until
the client wakes up.

6. How to deal with working in different
time zones
The best approach is to follow the agile model in the project. It’s possible to
overcome the time zone obstacle by using processes and technologies to
empower people to engage, connect and collaborate.
It is also important to give the team a common working space to share, find, and
collaborate on the information they need to get the work done.
Cloud tools like Google Drive is a “must be” to share and collaboratively edit
important documents, projects, and other files without having to send multiple
versions back and forth.

7. Using a calendar is also useful, as it allows to make short terms plans and daily
schedule accordingly. Take into account each country’s daylight savings period
and public holidays.
People can also get busy and sometimes forget that they are in a different time
zone and the team may not be available in the precise moment, (actually it
happens a lot).

8. Good practices
Slack is an excellent platform to communicate, it provides an
excellent hub for conversations and a record of previous
discussions by team members when they are away or sleeping. In
projects with clients from different time zones, it is very important
to establish communication rules. Any communication should be
done through previously established channels.
Slack have the sleep mode option, which allows not to disturb the
client during his night. So it's possible to send daily updates to the
clients to keep them aware on what we’re doing regardless of the
time zones.

9. When working with clients from different time zones, it is an
imperative to schedule the compromises. Google Calendar is a
handy resource because it allows to schedule meetings and
appointments in both clients and developing team zone, and
without either having to decipher it together.

10. It’s possible to have the best developers on the market but yet they’re not
machines and they simply can’t work 24 hours per day, so setting boundaries is
seriously important for the health and productivity levels of the team.
It’s practical to set up several clocks on the wall if that’s necessary. Or use a
whiteboard with all the running projects, with the specific number of hours that
separates the development team and the customer there.

11. Key takeaways
The best approach is to follow the agile model in the project. Empower people to
engage, connect and collaborate.
Give the team a common working space to share, find, and collaborate on the
information they need to get the work done; cloud tools like Google Drive is a
“must be”.
Meetings had to be planned well in advance.
Slack is an excellent platform to communicate, it provides an excellent hub for
conversations and a record of previous discussions.
Setting boundaries is seriously important for the health and productivity levels of
the team.

12. How to deal with a time zone difference in
outsourced projects